by G. R. Carter
Kingsely continued her report. “This is really odd, but you know how we were talking about this Continuity program that all the Human Resources people are pushing? It’s like a type of self–improvement program, takes people through what they call Progressions. You’re supposed to get better with each level, and then build an electronic profile that can live on Grapevine. And while you’re bettering yourself, your company is supposed to get better too. Anyway, that’s what M&C is into right now, and I guess these Interior people are also. So blocking the permits is their way of enforcing what’s called the ‘True Path.’”
Tony looked to the only person in the room over sixty years old. Uncle Jack, whose real name was John Fitzgerald Diamante, remained as the last of the previous generation to operate full-time in ARK. Uncle Jack acted as Tony’s consigliere, with the side function of being the Head of Human Resources. While such a combination might seem strange to an outsider, in the business ARK conducted, the right people sometimes meant life and death.
“Uncle Jack, we’re not letting that crap in here,” Tony said sharply.
“We’re all in agreement on that, Tony,” Uncle Jack assured. “We fired the two mid–levels who brought the idea to us, and we’re keeping a close eye on all the people they associated with while working here.”
The older man paused, considering his next words carefully as usual. “I think we have to look at this Continuity as a cult. I mean, we've known the people over at M&C since we all grew up together. We’ve had our differences, but at the root of it all I believed they were men to be respected. If they’ve brought this Continuity spazzatura into their firm, something bad has happened. Something strange like I’ve never seen before. For them to do business with the passivante from Interior? Unthinkable!”
The older man paused again, and then continued in his clipped accent: “We have to think in the worst terms possible. I’ve seen this before, when times get too bad or too good. A battle for control. All this money and power sloshing around, that can be intoxicating to people. Especially younger leaders, all due respect,” Uncle Jack nodded to Tony. Tony nodded back; he shared Uncle Jack’s suspicion of those in his own generation.
“We have to assume that M&C will make a move to consolidate power here in the city. Whether they are true believers in this Continuity cult or it’s just a vehicle to rally their forces, it doesn’t much matter. The end result is the same,” Uncle Jack concluded, managing to look each and every person in the eye before completing the thought.
“You’re right, Uncle Jack. As always. I didn’t want to let myself consider that. Why would these fools want to ruin this great thing we’ve all got going? This government money is going to set our families up with wealth for a hundred years! What more could they want? We should figure out if they really believe this crap, or if it’s a move for control,” Tony instructed the gathered team.
Cousin Bobby broke in again, this time more measured, “Tony, we’ve got to consider all possible outcomes. You’ve always said the stores and the Supper Clubs were our key to the powerful. 'Something small that opens a bigger door,' right? Do you want to fight for that? What do you want the Peacemakers to do if the Clubs get raided?” Bobby asked, referring to the ARK security group. Uncle Jack had named them the Peacemakers when he organized the Family’s enforcers into a professionally licensed security group forty year before. Not only did they provide security to the Family’s interests, some of the more powerful people in the city now hired them for their own personal security.
“No, Bobby. No violence. At least not yet. We’re still making huge money off the government contracts, and we can’t sacrifice that by getting into a conflict with the morons from Interior. We need more information. Our permits are all good for another couple of months, and we can survive without new ones for a while. Let’s spend the time gathering information, so we can make an informed decision. In the meantime, all the family stays out of both the clubs and the stores. Just in case. And I want us on First Sheet. Get all the important members of the Firm and their families into the apartments here in Renaissance Tower,” Tony commanded.
First Sheet referenced the old saying of “going to the mattresses.” That meant all members of the family stayed in the same place for security until whatever conflicts were settled. The First Sheet command was saved for only extreme situations. ARK leaders were all respectable people in the community; with kids in school, Church and philanthropic commitments…First Sheet was a reminder to friends and neighbors where the Diamante family money originally came from. The move into the ARK headquarters emphasized how dangerous Tony believed the situation to be.
“Okay, everyone work your contacts today. Find out everything you can. Burn favors if you need to. I want everyone here in my office by 7 pm tonight. We’re going to hammer out a strategy to start implementing tomorrow. And I’m serious; I want all of you in your Renaissance Tower apartments today. Send a car to pick up your families and your personal items. No excuses,” Tony demanded.
“We’ll have a big family dinner tomorrow night to celebrate something. Make it seem as natural as possible. We’ll figure it out. I’ll see you in a little while.”
Tony waited as the video screens went blank, and everyone but Uncle Jack left to begin their work.
As the door closed behind Kathy, Tony stared at the man who served as his primary advisor since Tony’s own father had passed away. “This is the one, isn’t it, Uncle Jack? You said each head of the Family has one major test, and this is mine. I can feel it.”
“I’m afraid so, son.” Uncle Jack was much more relaxed and informal when it was just he and Tony together. “I’m sorry I didn’t see it coming sooner. This took me a little by surprise. Maybe I’m losing my edge, eh?”
Tony retrieved a glass of bourbon and a cigar for his uncle, and then sat in the dark, rich leather of the chair beside him. These chairs can’t even be reproduced now, Tony thought reflectively. I wonder why all the good stuff is illegal?
He smiled at his mentor. “Nonsense. You’re still the best. What is your gut telling you we should do?”
Uncle Jack stared at his cigar, then answered: “This is going to sound strange, but I was talking to one of new people in the Networking department the other day at lunch. One that we recruited from out in the Valley…an absolute beauty, by the way. HR had an orientation lunch and I went down there to say a few words of welcome. So I asked her why she moved here to the Midwest instead of staying out there in the Valley where all this Network stuff was being created. Anyway, she told me all about these Continuity people, and about how fanatical they are. Made her really uncomfortable to be around them.”
“Did she have family here?” Tony asked, curious about where his uncle was heading with the thought.
“A few hours from here, but that wasn’t why. She read about you in some business journal. How you were modernizing the government contract business. She decided to give St. Louis a try. When she got to the Welcome Center here, she mentioned ARK and they sent her to our people,” Uncle Jack concluded.
“Okay, Uncle Jack,” he said, returning to more pressing matters. “Where are we going with this?”
“If the Continuity people demand complete compliance, and M&C and Interior are both in bed with them, they won’t let up until we either sign on or they destroy us. The weaker Firms here in town will fall in line because they won’t fight Interior, they can’t afford to lose any government cheese. Pretty soon they’ll wear us out.”
Tony thought about ARK fighting battles against each law firm in the city – legal or otherwise. And the Department of the Interior held the strings on each contract they awarded.
What a day! This morning on top of the world, this afternoon trapped.
“Here’s what you have to do, Tony. You have to spend some of that war chest you’ve been saving. As CEO, you’ve made the family and our partners very wealthy. Best financial results in the history of the Firm. Now everyone has to understand we’ve go
t to invest some back…for our future. I’ll help you with that, right?” the old man said rhetorically.
He continued: “Tony, how do these Valley people operate? Same as the Interior and all of DC do. Through this Grapevine Network. Consider how much power rests in that one name, Grapevine. I’m no Luddite, you know that. But whenever one group can control everyone else with just a name, that’s trouble. The Greeks, the Romans, the English, even America… all power could be summed up in a single name. Today that name is Grapevine,” he said, taking another puff of his cigar and a sip of his drink. “Think about it, you can’t even go buy food in this city without those electronic SmartWatchs. No cash accepted anywhere. Every transaction tracked and logged in a database. A database controlled by Grapevine. Now that’s power!”
“You’re not suggesting we sign on with them, are you?” Tony asked with shock.
“Not a chance. Your father and I went through something similar with the LBJ Great Society, and our father with FDR and the New Deal. More recently the stimulus bills and the zero interest policies from the Federal Reserve gave us the open road to unlimited debt. Each misguided government program led us to here, one step at a time. Unlimited government money makes people crazy, thinking they have all the answers when they don’t even understand the questions,” he said, shaking his head.
“But I will admit, Tony, this feels a little different to me. In the past, folks like us could meet and plan in secret. Send messages to one another. Hide out on a different continent if needs be. Go underground, so to speak. This Grapevine knows where you’re at all the time. What you’re doing and who you’re doing it with. Somehow, you’ve got to get our firm, and our family, out of the line of sight of these Interior people. At least until the big collapse comes and then we’ll be able to do business again.”
“So you think this will come to an end, too?” Tony asked.
“It always does, son. These things can’t run white-hot forever. The rocket always comes back to earth. What I’m afraid of is this time instead of landing with a thud, it will be a kaboom,” he said as he made the explosion gesture with his hands and opened his eyes wide.
“We’ve still got friends in DC; I’ll call them now. One of our Congressmen served with Speaker Reed in the Marines. I’ll see if he can get us some grace with Interior. Tell them we’re willing to play ball.” Uncle Jack nodded and stood up, stubbing out the cigar but keeping the drink. Until we get a plan put together, at least.”
“Hey Uncle Jack, one more favor. Figure out who that lady in Networking was that you were talking to the other day. Tell her to come to my office, please? I’ve got a special project for her.”
Executive Dining Room
ARK Headquarters
“Mr. Diamante, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course, Nicole. But please, call me Tony. I insist.”
Nicole Kelley stared briefly at her salad, gathering courage to ask the most powerful man in the city a personal question. “If your family started this firm, why isn’t your last name on the building?”
Tony laughed sincerely, and smiled at her. “Nicole, do you know how few people ever have the courage to ask that question, or would even think about that? I’m not just impressed by your Network knowledge; I’m impressed by your observation.”
Nicole blushed slightly, a reaction highlighted by her complexion. She wasn’t used to being complimented for anything but her looks, fueling a desire to prove herself worthy in the male-dominated field of technology. Many people, friends included, helpfully suggested that that drive led to a bit of a prickly demeanor.
Tony answered, still smiling as he put down his fork. “Our family was afraid that putting a name like Diamante on the business would be a giant target to the Feds. And since we weren’t exactly legitimate at the time, we didn’t want to attract too much attention,” he admitted with honesty that surprised himself.
“I think that Grandpa always regretted it, not being proud of the name. Could be why he and my dad started referring to the firm as ARK, even though they had to rearrange the acronym to get there,” Tony joked. “Government always fears those that try to live outside their bounds. We shouldn’t fear to try.”
“I understand. My brother and I don’t spend a lot of time with our family. But I guess there’s still some pride in where we came from,” Nicole agreed.
“Well, there’s no escaping my family here in this building. I’m sure you recognized that a few of us are related? And I assure you, you have no idea how deep the ties run here. Even I need a chart sometimes. Uncle Jack knows how everyone is connected, but I’m more interested in getting us into tomorrow and out of yesterday,” Tony said.
Then Tony thought about what Nicole had said. “So you do have family here? I thought you came here because you wanted to work for our firm?”
“Both. My brother is still about three hours away. Not exactly next door, but closer than California. I really did want to work for RK, or wait, I’m sorry, ARK. Fortunately, you were close enough to my brother that I could still see him and his family once and a while,” Nicole assured him.
She continued: “He’s thinking about moving to the city anyway. I’ve been telling him about everything going on here, and about ARK. He’s coming here in a few days to stay with me for a while. Try to look for a job.”
“Let me guess, he lives out in one of the small towns, lost his job, and now there’s nothing out there for him?” Tony asked.
“That’s right, he used to run one of those bio–fuel plants. You know, the ones that turned corn into gasoline? That was his life and career, but they shut it down when cars went electric and Interior decided large-scale farming wasn’t environmentally acceptable. Paul and I grew up on a farm, but Mom and Dad moved into town a long time ago.”
She smiled at Tony now, feeling a little more comfortable. “Not that you big-city lawyers would know anything about farming, right?”
Tony smiled back, “You might be surprised how deep my interest in farming goes. Tell Paul when he gets here that I’ve got a place for him in one of our projects working on Superfund cleanup for the EPA. I need someone with practical experience, so I don’t get taken by the criminals out there,” he laughed as the irony sunk in.
The smile faded as he switched subjects. “Tell me about these Continuity people. Uncle Jack said they tried to force their religion on you, but you wouldn’t go for it?”
Nicole spoke freely for the next thirty minutes about her exposure to Continuity, and the people called Fruit of the Valley. She described a movement called many names, depending on whom the program was tailored to: Fellowship of the Common Core, Church of Tomorrow, Fruit of the Valley, The Path, The Network. Whatever the name, they were all under the umbrella of Continuity. Tony finished his lunch and listened intently.
“I detect a fruity theme,” Tony joked when she finished her monologue.
“I know, right? I guess they want it all to tie in to Grapevine. That’s how they think they’ll live forever. They obsess over what they call their Profile. All of their activities and accomplishments go into the Profile. Each level is called a Progression, and they keep trying to become one of the elite Profiles on Grapevine,” Nicole added.
“That just sounds like a bad twentieth-century self–help program, not a religion,” Tony said.
“I guess you just have to be around them to get the vibe they put off. They quote certain passages from Zen Buddhism and even Christianity all the time. The passages are always about being one’s best and helping those around you. Sounds good on the surface, but then you realize they’re just trying to accomplish something for their Profiles.”
“What about the Hate Crime laws?” Tony asked. “Our HR department is terrified of any religious material being around here. And we have to tell people to keep their personal opinions to themselves, outside of our doors especially. I’m surprised they’re allowed to talk about all that.”
“You would think so, but all the business
es out there push Continuity, constantly. I guess because it gets packaged as a business improvement? HR departments love it, and management can integrate the principles into working harder for a greater good.
“Even the big Churches are embracing it because they appear so much friendlier. No black-and-white moral absolutes. They act like a big social service organization, just pushing volunteerism and prosperity. They don’t even reference the Scripture people are uncomfortable with. The Free Speech Council doesn’t bother them as long as the pastors stick to the fun part,” Nicole said, continuing her neglected lunch.
After a couple of bites, she continued: “Even the schools use the New Common Core. Get the fruit theme again? Parents are desperate to get their kids into the Academies sponsored by Fruit of the Valley. There’s hardly any math or science being taught. All critical thinking is taken care of by their SmartWatchs. The curriculum is psychology-based; more meditation and group interaction then learning.
Nicole shuddered. “The kids who come out of there are like creepy little zombies. My coworkers used to bring them into our office sometimes. They thought they were showing them off. All I could think was that these kids would be helpless if the Solar Storms ever shut off the power again. But I guess with Grapevine managing the grid, we don’t have to worry about that, right?” she asked.
Tony nodded slowly; thinking about what Uncle Jack had told him…All that power in one name, Grapevine.
“And you can forget about the colleges and universities. They’re completely infested with Continuity followers out there…and probably around here, too. You can’t move anywhere in the big public universities without having a decorated Profile. They don’t refer to careers anymore, they refer to Pathways. Every professor is on a Pathway. Even if you want to go to grad school, you have to adhere. There are no written rules, just Networks of Fruits helping each other,” she added, using a slang term picked up among the few Californians not following Continuity.